Legal services

Tender description

Legal support services for the Celtic Interconnector Project and in particular regarding the Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) contracts that will be awarded to design and build the Celtic Interconnector Project. EirGrid is the Transmission System Operator (TSO) and Market Operator (MO) in the wholesale trading system in Ireland, and is the owner of the System Operator Northern Ireland (SONI Ltd), the licensed TSO and market operator in Northern Ireland. Réseau de Transport d'Électricité (RTE) is the French TSO; it owns, operates and develops the french electricity transmission system with the primary objectives of balancing electricity generation with consumption and guaranteeing the secure operation of the power system. RTE and EirGrid, together referred to herein as ‘the Companies’, have been engaged in exploring the feasibility of an interconnector project between Ireland and France, which will hereafter be referred to as either the ‘Celtic Interconnector Project’ and/or ‘Project’. This procurement is being run by EirGrid on behalf of EirGrid and RTE. The companies shall require the successful tenderer to provide legal advice and support relating to legal issues regarding the Celtic Interconnector Project. The required services will mainly comprise of legal advice on and assistance with the legal elements of the EPC procurement process. The EPC contractor will likely be sourced through the negotiated procedure as set out in Council Directive 2014/25/EU. The general requirements will include working with the companies’ legal and procurement teams, including external advisers, to provide advice on all legal support services required for the project including: — EPC contracts strategy, — EPC contracts preparation (drafting of the EPC and other relevant contracts and updating after each round of negotiation and final tuning), — EPC contracts negotiations with preferred suppliers, — legal market intelligence on EPC contracts, — other third party contracts arising from EPC contracts strategy related to this scope, — any other ancillary legal services (under Irish law, French law or both) as may be required by the Companies or the IJV as appropriate. The range of work within the scope of requirements will change from year to year depending on the project requirements. It is anticipated that the scope will be confirmed at the beginning of each stage of the project although, it should be noted that there may be a requirement to increase/decrease the scope of work during the specific stages depending on project requirements.